


We'll Make It Work

by coraxes



Series: CR Ficlet Bundle [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: CR S2, F/F, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Found Family Feelings, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-03-13 09:16:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 16,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13567485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coraxes/pseuds/coraxes
Summary: 2018's ficlets and short prompt fills for Critical Role's second campaign.  Pairings in chapter headings.28. cliché pt. 2 [fjordmauk]29. defense [jestergard]30. subtlety [jesteryasha]31. bother figure [nott & caleb]32. eavesdropping [fjorestergast]





	1. fishing trip [widofjord]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> based on two prompts: caleb/fjord fishing trip + something about fjord having water powers and caleb not liking being wet.
> 
> written while buzzed. will be edited sober later probably.
> 
> edit 2/4: has been edited sober.  
> edit 2/5: i fjuckin' fjorgot fjord was allergic to cats? ah well

Through Frumpkin’s eyes, Caleb watched the water intently.  Though he was technically a fey creature, Frumpkin still had all of a cat’s instincts, and while Caleb himself was safely on the beach he let the cat indulge and followed along as a passenger.  In his own body Caleb felt only dry sand, hot sun, humid air, which were pleasant enough.

Frumpkin’s gaze jerked up in response to a stimulus Caleb didn’t feel.  But he heard Fjord’s gravelly voice say, “Caleb, if you’re in there, wanna join me?”

The cat turned of its own accord, so Caleb didn’t have to control it.  Together they saw Fjord standing on the docks--holding fishing poles, not wearing a shirt.  And, well, Caleb was easy.  He wasn’t going to make a move on his own.  He wasn’t going to pass up a chance to spend time with Fjord, either.  Even if that time involved being too close to the ocean.

As Frumpkin he butted his head against Fjord’s leg, rubbing against him in the affection that came naturally to his familiar’s form; then he returned to his own body, and started walking to where Fjord waited on the dock.

When Caleb approached Fjord sat with Frumpkin in his lap, stroking the cat’s head absentmindedly.  A grin broke over his face as Caleb approached.  The effect of it all was a bit...overwhelming, and Caleb felt himself returning the smile.  It had been a while since he had spent a lot of time around people who weren’t small goblin girls.  And there was something else, too; a crackle in the air that had nothing to do with physical sensation and everything to do with magic.  The scent of the salt air was stronger.  The waves were louder.  Fjord’s eyes were closer to green than yellow.  

“Hello there,” Caleb said, taking it in with narrowed eyes.  There it was--the sword, laying beside Fjord on the dock.  Seawater dripped from it the way Caleb had only seen before in a fight.  Not for the first time, he wondered where Fjord had gotten such an artifact; but he wasn't going to press the man on it.  No one liked to be asked too many questions.  “You wanted company?”

“If you don’t mind,” said Fjord.  “You know how to fish?”

Caleb did, sort of.  So he followed Fjord’s example and left his boots behind him, letting his feet dangle in the water as they fished.  It was quiet once they were settled.  They didn't know each other quite well enough for Caleb to feel comfortable in the silence, but he didn't know what to say to break the odd tension, either.  

Perhaps he was overthinking things.  He did that, sometimes.

Finally Fjord asked, “Why don’t you like water?  Is it a cat thing?”

Caleb wrinkled his nose.  “It’s not a cat thing.  I am not a cat.”  Fjord gave Frumpkin a significant look and raised an eyebrow.  “Frumpkin is a fey creature; he’s not  _me._ I’ve been taking baths, you know.  Jester’s been on me, I don’t need you to do it too.”

“It’s not about the baths.  As it happens, I like a man who’s a little rough around the edges.”  As if Caleb were not staring at him wide-eyed, Fjord shrugged; a grin played around the corners of his mouth.  “Just wonderin’.  Can you not swim?”

“I--”   _He likes me.  That’s--don’t stare like an idiot, Caleb._ “I can swim.  I just don’t enjoy it.”  

Fjord  _hmm_ ed and didn’t speak again; Caleb thought that was the end of it.  They fished for a few more hours with only a few bites and no actual catches, until finally Fjord yawned and said, “I don’t think we’re gonna get anything today.  Might as well pack it up.”

Caleb shrugged and reeled the fishing pole in, leaving it next to Fjord’s pole on the docks.  Then he tried to stand.  Unfortunately as he did, a couple hundred pounds of half-orc lunged at Caleb, carrying them both into the water.

“ _What the FUCK,”_ Caleb tried to yell,but as his mouth was full of seawater he did not succeed.  But strangely enough, he didn’t feel like he was drowning.  The water that filled his lungs didn’t choke him.  Caleb opened eyes that had been screwed shut on instinct, and saw Fjord’s grin through the blue-green water.

Fjord ran a finger along Caleb’s neck, the sensation--odd.  Because there were  _gills_ there.  “What the fuck,” Caleb tried to say again, in wonder this time, and Fjord’s grin widened.

The half-orc raised an eyebrow.   _Good?_ he seemed to be asking, and even though Caleb should have been pissed off he found himself smiling back; without the imminent threat of drowning this was actually sort of nice.  Fjord had an arm looped around his waist; his grin was brilliant; the water was warm and pleasant.

Fjord nodded in acknowledgement, and jerked his head towards the surface.  

Caleb didn’t really want to go.  There was something oddly perfect and fragile about this moment.  He wanted to stay down here; he perhaps wanted Fjord to kiss him.

But Caleb was not brave.  So he nodded, and together they swam upwards.

The gills vanished as soon as they reached the surface; Caleb gulped as fresh air hit his lungs, and clung to the planks of the dock.  Fjord pulled himself up, then offered a hand to Caleb.  

“Too bad we didn’t catch anything,” Fjord said, as if nothing had happened.

Well, if he was going to be that way about it... Something caught Caleb’s eye.  “But we did,” he said, nodding at Frumpkin.  The cat sat on the docks, tearing into a freshly caught fish.  “So the trip was a success after all.”

He glanced over at Fjord and found the other man--well, the word was  _ogling,_ Caleb thought, and felt himself turning red.

“I’ll say,” Fjord drawled, and picked up their fishing poles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are <3.
> 
> If you would like to prompt a fic, hit me up either here or @magsides on tumblr.


	2. you're gonna be fine [widofjord]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt: "something with fjord and caleb where one of them gets pretty hurt and one of them has to take care of the other before help can get there is always a great trope"

Shit.  Shitshitshitshit.  Outside the tent where he had dragged himself and Caleb, Fjord heard the battle still ongoing.  Jester and Beau and Molly could take some hits.  Nott could stay out of the way.  But Caleb--

The wound in his gut was deep and red.  Fjord tried not to look at it.  Instead he focused on Caleb’s face, twisted into a grimace.  “You’re fine,” he said with confidence he didn’t feel.  “You’re going to be fine.”

Caleb reached out blindly with one hand and found Fjord’s, squeezing as if he could pass the pain along.  “Potion?”

“Don’t have one on me anymore,” Fjord said, with a guilty wince.  He’d chugged his earlier.  Fat lot of good that had done him.  He had barely been able to walk to the tent.

“Shit,” said Caleb with feeling.  Fjord laughed, more out of hysteria than anything.  This squishy idiot.  They needed to get him some armor, _something_.  “Getting tired of--of almost dying.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Fjord repeated like a mantra.  The rest of their group would win, and Jester would be there, and they’d be fine.  

He didn’t know what made him act, exactly, except that Caleb was hurt and he was also getting real tired of him almost dying every other day.  But Fjord leaned forward and pressed his lips to Caleb’s forehead, his cheek, his mouth.  Caleb’s hand clenched around his, and he took a ragged breath.  A bloody hand pressed against Fjord’s face, keeping him there.

“You’re not gonna die,” Fjord said, voice shaking, once he pulled back.  “Alright?”

Caleb nodded.  “Alright.” And his eyes drifted shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments/kudos are much appreciated!


	3. intervention [fjorester]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt: "Fjorester where Fjord assumes Jester is just joking when she flirts with him and she keeps getting frustrated"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would I watch an entire stream that was just laura in-character flirting with her husband? yes. absolutely.

“Alright,” said Mollymauk as soon as Jester left, “this is getting ridiculous.”

Fjord frowned into his tankard.  “What is?”

Molly and Beau traded glances across the table; Molly made a weird, helpless little gesture, and Beau rolled her eyes.  Then she turned to Fjord.  “Jester just fucking asked if she could sit on your face is what.”

Sometimes Fjord was very glad that he was green, because he could feel his entire face turning hot but no one would be able to tell.  He shrugged, nonchalantly as he could manage.  “She didn’t mean anything by it.  That’s just Jester.  She’s--sweet.”

“ _Just Jester.”_ Beau snorted.  “Listen, if Jester hit on me like she does you we’d never get out of bed.  If you’re not into it, you’re not into it, but--”

“But you certainly are, so stop ignoring the woman, fuckssakes,” Molly finished.  “I shudder to think of what she might do next.  Show up naked at the bar, maybe?”

“Why would that be a bad thing?” said Beau.

Molly cocked his head to the side.  “Point.”

“Will you two  _shut up,”_ hissed Caleb, hands pressed over Nott’s ears.

Fjord blinked, once.  Put his tankard down on the table.  Adjusted his trousers as discreetly as possible.  “I think I should go talk to Jester,” he said.

“Remember,” said Molly, “sock on the doorknob is a universal sign.”


	4. the best laid plans [widofjord]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt from hollyjollyturnabout on tumblr (and on here--thanks for the bookmark!): "Nott and Jester being the worst, just the WORST wingmen for Fjord and Caleb. Dragging them into the same room for no reason, bringing Fjord fake love notes from Caleb, etc. etc. Jester is just the greatest trickster cleric and I want to see her at work, dragging Nott along as they go."
> 
> this turned into a 5 times fic woops lmao

**i.**

It started subtly, sort of.

Somehow a trip to the market to buy more health potions and gear had turned into Jester dragging Fjord and Caleb into a small boutique.  Fjord wasn't sure where everyone else had gone; they had melted away into the crowd.  

"Hmm," said Jester.  She had Fjord by the elbow, like he was a child she needed to keep track of.  To be fair, if she let go he probably  _would_ run away.  "Look, Fjord, what do you think?"  She dangled a pair of black gloves in front of his face.  

"They're...nice?" Fjord said, at a loss.  "Look too big for you, though."

"No, for you, silly.  They would look good on your hands, you have good hands.  Caleb, doesn't Fjord have good hands?"

Caleb, who had been watching the whole thing with a baffled amusement, choked; his whole face went red.  Fjord almost laughed and smothered it with a cough.  "Yes, er--very good."

Jester beamed, turning her grin from Caleb to Fjord.  It reminded Fjord uncannily of how the old schoolteacher in his village would look after someone successfully read a word.  

"What the hell was that?" Caleb whispered to Fjord once Jester let them leave.

Fjord had an idea.  But he only shrugged.

**ii.**

"I'm sorry," said the hostess, "it looks like there isn't a table big enough for all of you."

Fjord narrowed his eyes.  He was pretty good at spotting liars, if he did say so himself--and the hostess's voice sounded strangely rehearsed.

Jester leaned on the podium.  "Weeeeell.  Are there maybe two tables, and one has enough chairs for two people and the other has enough chairs for four people, and we can split up?"

He had a good idea where this was going, and glanced over at Caleb, wondering if he had noticed the same thing.  The wizard didn't seem to be paying attention.  He was too busy holding Nott's arm, making sure she didn't get her hands on the restaurant's many shiny trinkets.

"That would work just fine," said the hostess.  "Why don't these two gentlemen take the corner table and--"

Fjord weighed his options.  On one hand, they could have alone time in a nice restaurant, and maybe Jester would be appeased.  On the other hand, he didn't fancy being kicked out because Caleb wasn't there to remind Nott to keep her hands to herself.

"Why don't you and Nott take the little table over there, Caleb?" he suggested.  "Have some bonding time.  We'll be just over here."

Caleb blinked, startled to be pulled back into the conversation.  The hostess's smile became more frozen.  "Sure...?"

The food was great, but Jester sulked all through dinner.

**iii.**

From there, things...escalated.

Fjord rummaged in his pack one morning and found a crumpled piece of paper.  He wasn't sure who put it there, but most of his coins were gone, so he had a pretty good idea.  When he unfolded it the handwriting was almost too messy to read.

_Do you like me?  Check yes or no--Caleb_

He laughed, rolled his eyes, stuffed it back in the bag.  Caleb would probably get a kick out of it.

Ten minutes later, when they were packing up camp and fixing to get back on the road, Caleb approached him.  "I think we have a bit of a situation," he muttered.

"Did you get a love note, too?" Fjord asked.

Caleb rubbed his nose, and a blush spread across his cheeks.  "Of a sort.  Here."  He pulled a piece of parchment from his robes.

 _Y'ain't never seen a dick this big,_ the letter began, and Fjord had to stop reading because he wanted to laugh so badly it felt like his ribs were going to crack.  

"You have to admit she's got your voice down," said Caleb, straight-faced, and Fjord resisted the urge to kiss him in the middle of camp.

**iv.**

"Alright," said Fjord, holding the towel around his waist, "fess up."

Up to now Jester's...thing had mostly been funny, but he had a line and that line was his clothes being stolen whenever he was just trying to take a bath.

"Whatever do you mean?" Jester asked innocently.  She sat on her bed next to Caleb, apparently showing him sketches from her journal; at Fjord's appearance he had looked up and was currently checking him out.  In any other circumstance, Fjord would appreciate the attention.  "Where are your clothes?"

" _Someone_ took them.  Along with all the other clothes from my room," Fjord said.  He was dripping onto the inn's hallway.  It was  _cold._

"Oh how terrible," said Jester, lower lip wobbling, and elbowed Caleb in the ribs.  "Caleb, someone took all of Fjord's clothes, isn't that terrible?"

Caleb nodded, wide-eyed.  "Just...awful."

Fjord sighed.  Looked up at the ceiling in a silent prayer.  Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, the Traveler would talk Jester out of this nonsense.  "Jester, I know what you're trying to do.  There's no point.  Give them  _back._ "

Jester pouted.  Fjord glared back.  " _Fiiiiiine,_ " she sighed.  "We hid them in Caleb and Nott's room, come on."

Of course she did.  Fjord let her lead him down the hall.  Jester held the door open; as he walked past her, she asked, "When did something bite you?"

"What?" Fjord asked, trying not to let his voice crack.  "What do you mean?"

"You have a bite mark.  On your shoulder."  Jester tapped the small wound.  "You should've told me, I would have healed you."

"Didn't seem like a big deal," Fjord said, which wasn't a lie.  "Now leave so I can get dressed."

**v.**

"Now this is just embarrassing," said Caleb.  The closet Jester had shoved them into was so small Fjord could feel Caleb's breath on his shoulder as he talked; his eyes were focused somewhere around Fjord's mouth, blinking as he tried to adjust to the low light.  

Fjord tried to scratch his head, but ended up just banging his elbow on the wall.  "I knew she was...invested.  Didn't think she'd go this far, though."

"I  _said_ we should tell her before things got out of hand," said Caleb.  He leaned into Fjord's chest and wrapped his arms around Fjord's waist.

"I thought she'd figure it out on her own!" Fjord protested with a laugh.  "Beau knew, Molly knew. Hell, Yasha probably knows by now, and we ain't seen her in weeks."  

Caleb made a grumpy noise.  Fjord stroked his hair.  Sometimes when he got like this Fjord half-expected the wizard to start purring.  "But as long as we're in here..." Fjord drawled, and at his tone Caleb glanced up.

"Really?"

"We've been in less comfortable places," Fjord said, hand going under Caleb's jaw, and when their mouths met Caleb was still grinning.

Twenty minutes later Caleb's shirt was open, Fjord was pressed against the corner of the closet, and Jester blasted open the doors.

"OH MY GOD DUDE," she shouted at the ceiling, face split with a wide grin, "IT WORKED!  I AM THE BEST TRICKSTER EVER!"

Fjord looked at Caleb.  Caleb looked back.  They were definitely never going to tell her.


	5. mating dance [fjorestermauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt from casualjster on tumblr: "flirting in public ft fjorestermauk"
> 
> aka an unstoppable force (my love for flirtation) meets an immovable object (my inability to write convincing flirting)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are <3\. I know this is a ficlet collection so not everything is going to be to your taste, but feedback really helps when I'm writing unfamiliar characters.

"What exactly is going on here?" Caleb asked in an undertone.

Beau rolled her eyes.  "I think it's some kinda weird tiefling mating dance."

They were--theoretically--following a lead on a wizard who went to the academy.  In practice, Jester and Molly were fawning over Fjord as they walked through Zadash's streets and taverns.  Jester kept coming up with reasons to clutch his arm; she'd seen Molly grab his ass at least three times.  They were about as subtle as, well, peacocks.

"Are they...competing?" Caleb asked, nose wrinkling.  Beau didn't blame him.  Their little group wasn't exactly close-knit.  They were thrown together by chance, after all, not really by choice.  A love triangle was the last thing they needed.

Still Beau considered the amount of times Jester had slipped out of their shared room over the last week.  "Nah.  Just showing off."  Fjord was a lucky asshole, too.  She'd kill for  _one_ girlfriend--preferably one that could carry her around a circus, say--much less a girlfriend plus a...whatever Molly was.  Significant other.

Caleb nodded slowly.  "Alright, then.  Whatever makes them happy, I suppose."

"What's a mating dance?" asked Nott in a voice that was supposed to be quiet.  Ahead of them, Fjord came to an abrupt halt; Molly choked.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Jester said, perfectly collected.

Nott blinked.  "Oh.  This is a sex thing, isn't it.  Never mind, I don't want to know anymore."

Fjord turned to give Beau and Caleb a long, slightly menacing look.  "Y'all talking about something interesting back there?"

Beau shrugged.  "Just taking in the sights," she said, grinning lazily back.  They couldn't just stand there in the middle of the street, so she started walking forward again, through the huddled little threesome.  "And, uh," she added, tapping Jester on the shoulder, "use protection.  We've already got one kid."


	6. first aid [jestergard]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt on tumblr: "Beau x Jester, Jester tending to Beau's wounds?"
> 
> I think this is my first thing that takes place in an actual canon time and not just vaguely in the future. Go me. Slight AU of episode 4.

“Beauregard!  What happened to you?” Jester sat up straight in bed, squinting against the light coming from the inn’s hallway, and saw Beau stiffen.  She was covered in bruises and scrapes, and holding her arm protectively across her stomach.  "Where have you been?“

Beau frowned and shut the door.  "It’s nothing, Jester, I’m fine.  Just gotta get some sleep.”  She winced and pressed a hand against her bruised jaw, then limped over to the bed.  Jester was already out of hers, guiding Beau down.  

“Don’t be silly.  I am a healer, and I will heal you and not ask questions.”  That was the secret, to not ask questions.  With Beau, at least.  She liked to think she was all secretive and badass, but she didn’t like the quiet either.  Jester sat down on the bed next to Beau and reached out a hand, calling a spell to mind.  "Where do you hurt the worst?“  Jester could see bruises blooming along Beau’s very nice ab muscles and shoulders, but from the way she was walking maybe something was messed up in her leg as well.  

Beau glared at Jester like she wanted to argue.  Jester beamed back.  Her cuteness won out in the end, as Jester knew it would.  Beau took one of Jester’s hands and guided it to her ribs.  "Here.  I think something’s broken.”

“Then I will unbreak it,” Jester said, and set to work.

The silvery-blue pulse of the Traveler’s magic was soothing, and Jester let herself focus on that as she knit Beau’s ribs together, then started repairing other bruises and scrapes.  Every now and then Beau would let out a sigh and relax under Jester’s hands and, well.  It was a little hot.  She could get used to being The Cleric, if this was what it got her.

“Not a bad night,” said Beau finally.  "A hot girl to beat me up and a hot girl to heal me later.“

 _Wellll_ then.  A hot girl had hurt Beau, and she didn’t seem too upset about it.  Jester wondered if this was a secret vigilante thing.  Or maybe a Fight Club–that would be exciting, she had loved that play.  "If you want, I could beat you up too,” Jester said, and looked up to see Beau’s slow smirk.

“I think I’ll take you up on that sometime,” Beau said, and relaxed back into her pillows.


	7. goner [widofjord]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt by god-bless-matthew-mercer on tumblr: "So I thought if this prompt while playing birth by sleep. Prompt: a foe has just grabbed Fjord by the throat and threw off a cliff, and Caleb rushes over and jump after him casting fly on himself to catch fjord. once he catches him he start crying and kiss him"
> 
> excellent prompt dude, you did half the work for me

Caleb was hiding behind a tree, darting out every now and then to focus on one of the giants.  He didn't see what the other giant was doing; he didn't see Fjord fall.  He only heard Nott's scream, and leaned around the tree to see the second giant standing over a cliff, and agonizingly slowly his brain put the pieces together.

He didn't think.  He was too much of a coward for thinking.  If he did he would realize this was a terrible idea.  He only ran, and muttered the words of a spell, and jumped off the cliff after Fjord.  Air rushed past his ear as the giant swatted at him-- _don't think about that either_ \--and suddenly he was diving, eyes on Fjord's falling form, gritting his teeth and burning every ounce of his spellcasting power to catch up to the other man. He couldn't focus on the ground, or the million things that could go wrong.  Just the quiet " _oof_ " Fjord let out when Caleb caught him, wrapping his arms around Fjord's chest.

Carefully Caleb slowed their flight and brought them to the forest floor, far away from the mountaintop where their friends were still fighting.  Blood pounded in his ears.  

"Oh gods," he said, as soon as his feet touched the ground.  His knees buckled.  If it weren't for the spell, Caleb probably would have fallen on his face; instead he just floated pathetically in mid-air.  "Oh gods.  Fjord.  You got thrown off a mountain.  I jumped off a _mountain._ "

Fjord's voice was calm, but Caleb could tell he was shaken too; he was shivering and clutching onto Caleb's arms as if to hold them both down.  "Sure did.  I--"  He licked his lips.  "Thanks for the rescue.  I thought I was a goner."

Caleb nodded.  And then, because he was a little desperate, he did something else without thinking.  He grabbed Fjord's forearms, yanked him forward, and kissed him.

Fjord froze at the sudden contact and then he was just-- _on_ Caleb, his hands going up Caleb's coat, into his shirt, his hair, pulling him as close as possible.  Caleb licked into Fjord's mouth.  A tiny, desperate noise burst from his chest without his permission.

They didn't stop for a long time.  Not until well after the spell wore off and Caleb was on the ground once again.  The desperation slowed into something else, something softer, and then Fjord pulled back.  

"You're crying," he said, sounding surprised.

Oh.  "Shit," said Caleb.  "Sorry.  I thought you were going to die.  I thought  _I_ was going to die."

"We're not," Fjord assured him.  He kissed Caleb again, very gently.  "Now we just have to figure out how to get back up this mountain."


	8. root beer candy [caleb & nott]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> god-bless-matthew-mercer: "Caleb taking a hit for Nott and after the battle Nott looking after Caleb after while he recovered. Nott and Caleb family feels"
> 
> Since the team has a healer, I went in a slightly different direction with this than what I think you had in mind? Hope you still enjoy!

"Caleb?  Caleb, I got you something nice, it'll make you feel better."

Caleb rolled over on his stomach and slowly blinked awake.  "Wha...Nott?"  The girl peered over the edge of his bed and held her hands behind her back, shuffling from foot to foot.  "Nott, I'm fine, what do you..."

"Here, look," Nott said, and shoved a handful of candy into Caleb's face.  

Alright; he needed to be more awake for this.  Caleb sat up, rubbing his eyes to clear the last bits of sleep from them.  It had been a damned long day.  Nott had pissed off an overzealous guard, and Caleb had stepped between her and a sword.  Jester had patched him up, but it wasn't a pleasant experience even if the damage was gone now.  "Nott, why are you bringing me candy in the middle of the night?"  He thought he knew the answer, but it would be good to get confirmation.

"Well I couldn't sleep because I kept thinkin' about you gettin' hurt and it was making me itchy.  So I thought, I could get something for you, and I wouldn't have the itch anymore and then you could feel better too," Nott said, all in a rush.  She shoved the candy at him again.  "Look.  It's root beer flavored, you love root beer."

"I...thank you, Nott," said Caleb, and grabbed a piece of candy.  He popped it into his mouth and chewed for a moment, conscious of Nott's worried eyes but not sure how to make her stop worrying.  "It's good.  I'm feeling loads better already."

She dumped the rest of the candy on the bed.  "Good!  Eat it and feel better and don't get stabbed again.  I'll try not to get you in trouble no more."

"Even if you do, I don't hold it against you.  You know that, right?"  

"I--"  Nott sniffed suddenly, then jumped up on the bed to wrap her skinny little arms around him.  She smelled terrible; Caleb hugged her back anyway.  "Thank you, Caleb.  I'm going to sleep now, love you."

The last words were delivered so quickly that Caleb could only stare in shock as she darted out of his arms and to her own bed.  He blinked and looked down at the little pile of candy.  "Love you too, liebling."


	9. masterpiece [jestergast]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous: "Caleb x Jester, Jester drawing on Caleb's skin"
> 
> This isn't super romantic, sorry. I feel like I could grow to love these two, but rn I have a hard time writing Liam and Laura's characters as not-siblings.

"Hey--Jester, that  _tickles._ "

"Stop squirming!  You're going to mess me up."

Caleb sighed, but tried to hold still.  He wasn't uncomfortable, exactly; he was just lying on his stomach in the inn's bed, which wasn't too bad.  Even Jester's weight near the small of his back wasn't too bad, though he had to try not to think too hard about it.  But her paint was cold and it tickled _,_ and on top of that he had never been good at sitting still for long periods of time.  Even when he read Caleb was constantly moving, shifting from one position to another.

"What are you drawing, anyway?" he asked, letting his head drop down into the pillows.  Jester drew a paint-covered finger near his spine, and Caleb tried not to shudder.

"A masterpiece!" said Jester.

When she didn't continue, Caleb prompted, "...of what, exactly?"

"I don't know, technically I'm just messing around until I figure it out, technically."

Caleb sighed.  "Let me know when you do."

"Don't worry!  You are going to be  _beautiful,_ Mr. Stinky Man," Jester assured him, and poked his ribs when he chuckled.  "Don't laugh, you're messing me up!"

 


	10. in character [jestergard]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scornandivory: "jester x beau, undercover/fake married. preferably with jester doing some Jester Shit (TM) with someone getting pissed at her and beau being like 'that's my wife, don't talk to my wife like that.'"
> 
> i started a longer fic to go with this that i may possibly one day finish, but for now, have this scene.

“This party blows,” Beau said.  

It had been going pretty great up until the guard thing.  The plan had been simple--pretend to be married to get into big mansion.  Sneak into big mansion’s office.  Steal paperwork.  Get out.  The getting-out part had broken bad, because this was them.

She scoped out the row of guards blocking their way down the hall, and her arm tightened protectively around Jester’s waist.  Not that Jester needed her protection, but--Beau kinda wanted to give it, anyway.

“And what’ve you got there?” asked a guard.  He stepped forward and yanked at the papers folded in Jester’s hand.  

Jester tugged back, nose crumpled as she scowled.  “Listen, this is mine, do you always go around taking things from--”

 _Crack._ The guard’s backhand cut off Jester.  Beau knew Jester could take it, had seen her take worse, but--

Fuck it.

“That’s my  _wife,_ dickhole!” Beau snapped, and headbutted him.

The fight was kind of a blur, after that.  

They took down the guards easily and bundled their unconscious forms into the office they’d just snuck out of.  Once the dirty work was done and they were ready to head out, Jester said, “Your wife, hmm?”

 _Shit.  “_ Just, uh, staying in character, you know.”

“Well, that was very chivalrous of you,” Jester declared, sidling into Beau’s personal space, and kissed her.

Beau stared blankly at the little chain dangling between Jester’s ear and her horn.  By the time she realized that she could, you know, close her eyes or maybe put her hands somewhere, Jester was pulling away.

“That was in-character too,” said Jester.  She was  _smirking._ It made her look a little more demonic, and Beau was kind of into it.

“You, uh, want to try that out of character sometime?” Beau asked.

“Hmm, maybe.”  Jester waved her forward to the door.  And then Beau felt a very small tiefling hand on her butt, and tried not to jump.  “I think I like this character, though.”


	11. spoiled rotten [nott & everyone]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt: "Can I prompt you to write the group spoiling Nott when Caleb isn't looking? Give my daughter nice things 2k18"

**fjord -**

Nott saw the teddy bear in the window, but Fjord was the one who saw Nott, her fingers leaving streaks across the glass.

The store wasn’t the kind of place folks like them went in, especially when they still reeked of gore from the last thing they’d killed.  It was a place for the wealthy to drag their kids after a day out in the markets.  Fjord saw a few well-to-do families inside.  Even sneaky little Nott would never manage to rob the place.  They would peg her as an urchin the moment she stepped foot in the door.

“Y’all keep going.  I’ll meet you at the inn,” he said, and hung back as the rest moved on.

The shopkeepers stared as he lumbered into the store, but Fjord ignored them, grabbing the bear from the window with road-grimy hands.  “How much?” he asked.

It was almost too much, but worth it for the look on Nott’s face.

**beau -**

Beau was tired.  They were  _all_ tired, after days of walking.  WC could only pull the cart with people in it for so long.  Every now and then Jester would sigh dramatically, or Caleb would grumble and reach for the waterskin.

Nott, though, she didn’t say anything.  She just started lagging after a while.  Beau noticed because every now and then there’d be a  _tap tap tap tap_ of tiny goblin feet as she realized she’d fallen behind and ran to catch up.

After the third time, Beau touched her shoulder.

“What?  What’d’ya want?” Nott snapped, jerking back, and Beau lifted her hands in the air.  Damn jumpy little kid, not that Beau could judge.

“You ever had a piggyback ride?”

Nott blinked.  “Yeah?  A coupla times.  Caleb tries to give them to me, but--” her voice dropped to a whisper-- “he’s not very strong.”

“Well, I am.  So hop on.”  Beau crouched.  After a moment of hesitation she felt Nott’s arm’s around her neck.  Standing, Beau hooked her arms around Nott’s knees.  She was heavy; Beau thought she could manage for a while, though.  Give the kid a break.

“Thank you,” Nott said, after a second.  “I’ll keep my crossbow ready while we’re up here, and then I can be a lookout, yeah?”

“Yeah,” said Beau.  She felt a grin form at the corner of her mouth.  “Sounds great.”

**jester -**

“What do you mean, you don’t know when your birthday is?” Jester asked, forgetting to cover her mouth so cake crumbs sprayed across the table.  It was her birthday today so she had gotten herself some cake to celebrate, and then she had asked everyone what their birthdays were so that she could get them presents--only Nott didn’t even know!

Nott fidgeted.  “I just don’t keep track.  Stole a couple of calendars and things, only I didn’t know when the days were so I just stopped.”

Jester almost asked if her mom or dad had ever told her, and then realized that that was a stupid question that might make Nott upset probably.  “Well, then there is only one thing to do!  Today is your birthday now.”  She started to shove her cake plate across the table, then hesitated.  It was  _reeeeally_ good cake--but Nott needed it for her new birthday.  Also technically she could just get another piece.  The little shop had strawberry and she liked strawberry very much.  So Jester gave her cake to Nott.  “Happy birthday!”

**molly -**

Molly knew a bit about what it felt like to grow up a freak.  It was easy to understand Nott.  Once upon a time, he had been her, scared to show his face and stealing because nothing else would have him.  

These days, he made up for it by--well, conning people, true.  But also by being the loudest, most ostentatious motherfucker he could manage.  Maybe Nott didn’t share his philosophy, but she already stood out, and not in a good way.  Molly decided to fix that, once piece at a time.

First he got her gloves and boots.  Real thieves’ gear that would cover her claws and still let her climb on whatever she wanted.  Nott didn’t trust them at first, but Molly laid on the praise thick whenever she did wear them, and she replaced her bandages with her new gear.  

Then, a few weeks later, came the coat--nothing too ostentatious, but better than the rags she wore in a duplicate of Caleb’s.  Honestly, that man.  So determined to prove to Nott that he accepted her for who she was that he didn’t try to show she could be better.  It was mostly black, with dark patterned patches sewn in here and there, because contrary to popular opinion Molly did have  _some_ restraint.

His last gift came after a fight.  Nott’s porcelain mask had been shattered by an enemy’s blow.  She spent the next few days hiding her face behind discarded scraps of cloth.  So the next time they came to a town, Molly bought her something nice at the market, and left it in his pack for her to steal.

Nott appeared the next morning wearing a felt mask, obviously made for children.  Her yellow eyes glowed through the little holes as she sat down near the campfire to eat breakfast.  

Molly elbowed her playfully.  Nott jumped.  “Suits you,” he said, winking at the goblin girl dressed as a raccoon, and after a frozen moment she beamed back, displaying her many crooked teeth.


	12. dungeons & date nights [widofjord (& vaxgrog)]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt: "okay but fjord/caleb getting seperated from the group and fjord having to take care of a poisoned/exhausted caleb"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hijacked this prompt to do something I've been meaning to for a while--if that's not your thing, then hopefully the cute Widofjord makes up for it. If not then eh, it's short. Anyway consider this an AU of S1.

Chains clanked in the next cell over as its occupants stirred.  The prisoner had heard his new neighbors arrive a few hours before, but it seemed they were only now waking up; he didn’t blame them.  If they got hit with the same concoction as him and his companion, he was more impressed that they woke up at all.

“Caleb, are you awake?” one, a half-orc, said groggily to his cellmate.  ( _Groggily._   The prisoner snorted.)  He turned, shaking his companion.  No response.  The half-orc scrubbed a hand over his face.  “... _Shit.”_

The other man’s voice was much weaker.  “Fjord?”  The prisoner saw Caleb’s hand come up to grasp the other man’s--Fjord’s.  “Why’s everything spinning?  Where are Nott and the others?”

“They got out.  They’ll be fine, they’re coming back for us,” Fjord said.  It was difficult to tell in the low light of the torches--the prisoner’s half-elven vision only did so much--but he seemed almost as bad off as Caleb.  Then the prisoner noticed the wound in Caleb’s side.  So...maybe much better off, then.  “Listen, we both got dosed with somethin’, I don’t know what, and you’ve lost some blood.  Is there anything you can do?  Any spells?”

Caleb shook his head.  “Sorry.  I don't suppose  _you_ have any spells for this?"

Fjord grimaced.  "Just gotta take care of this the old-fashioned way," he said, pulling Caleb's shirt back to examine the gash there.  He tore a strip of fabric from Caleb's ruined coat and carefully bound the wound, scowl deepening as small, pained noises escaped from Caleb's mouth.  "I'm sorry, I can't--"

“It’s fine,” Caleb managed.  He tugged their joined hands to his mouth and kissed Fjord’s.

“Aww,” said the prisoner’s companion.  He bit back a grin as the other two men looked up--Fjord quickly, alert, Caleb slow and almost resigned.  Their eyes widened as they realized for the first time that other people were in the dungeon with them.  Typical lovebirds, thought the prisoner, not noticing anything but each other.  “Didn’t know anyone else went on dates like this.”

“Who’re you?” Fjord asked.  His tone was cautious, but not hostile.

The prisoner waved.  “I’m Vax, and this big guy here is Grog.”  He wiggled his fingers.  “If you like, I could take care of your little poison problem before we bust the hell out of here.”


	13. level up [jester & the traveler]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous: "what about jester interacting with / talking to the traveler? like in a dream or something"
> 
> this gave me the chance to write about a theory I really love, so thank you! it was very fun.

“Hello, Jester,” said the red-haired elf, settling on the barstool next to her.

She had been concentrating on her drawings; at the elf’s words, her head jerked up.  “How do you know my name?”

The elf gave her a very unimpressed look.  “It’s me,” he said, rolling his eyes, and Jester thought that was unfair.  Technically the last time she saw the Traveler he had looked different, technically, less like an elf and more...something.  Magical.  It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know all the different ways he could look.

But she just waved at him.  It was nice to get a visit in person, even if he was a little shit.  “Hi there!  How have you been doing?  Have you seen my drawings?”

The Traveler grinned.  His teeth were less pointy than she remembered, too.  “Of course, of course!  I can’t watch you all the time, you know, but those little recaps are just...darling.  What are you working on now?”

Jester showed him: a little doodle of Beau in prison (again), a rude drawing of the ruder lawmaster who kept following Fjord around because she suspected he was a heretic, herself with a big sword.

“Nice work, very nice,” said the Traveler.  “Not quite as good as mine, but you’ll get there.”

Jester ignored the negging.  She was used to it.  

One of his slender fingers landed on the drawing of Jester and her sword.  “Now, this...you’ve been thinking of leaning a bit more towards a paladin, haven’t you?”

“A little bit, yeah,” said Jester, shrugging.  It wasn’t a big deal--she liked being a cleric--but her friends were stupid and always getting themselves almost killed.  

He tapped his chin with a finger.  “Hmm.  Jester, my little experiment.  I have not made a Paladin before, but there is a first time for everything--and you, apparently, are it.”  He touched Jester’s forehead, the way he had the first time he had given her powers.  His eyes lit up green-gold and then something burst in her mind, new things she could do, powers taking shape.  “There you are.”

“Oh!”  Jester blinked.  Stars blacked out her vision like she had looked at the sun for too long.

A new voice intruded as she tried to figure out what he had  _done._ “This guy bothering you?” Beau asked.

“No, no, he is fine,” said Jester quickly.  She didn’t want Beau starting to fight with the Traveler; she would have to fight Beau and then where would they be?

The Traveler stood with a flourish.  His hair seemed to have poofed out when he did his god-magic.  “I believe I should be on my way.  Nice talking to you again, Jester--I’ll be watching.”

Before he could get more than a few steps away, Jester flung herself at her god.  Probably this was not a good thing to do to a god, but she did not really care.  “Thank you,” she said, enveloping him in a rib-cracking hug; the Traveler did not wince.  “Thank you thank you!  I will draw something extra special just for this.”

A hand landed on her hair, and he gingerly patted her a few times.  Jester grinned into his shirt.  “I, er...thank you.  Now let go of me.”

She did.

“What the hell was that?” Beau asked, nonplussed, after he left.

“Oh, just the Traveler.  He made me a paladin too.”

“ _What.”_


	14. cliché [fjordmauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> admiralnaismith on tumblr: "for the writing prompt- Molly having a nightmare or the group noticing gaps in Molly’s memory?"
> 
> a smidgen of fjordmauk, but can be read without shipping if you want.

Mollymauk never woke screaming from nightmares.  It was so--gauche.  Not to mention cliché.  Ever since he was a child he had dealt with his nightmares without the luxury of private sleeping quarters, and he had adapted.  So when he came to on the inn floor after a particularly nasty one (nothing real, this time; he was dead and somehow standing over his body, looking at his own still face, hearing his friends die around him), Molly was fairly certain he had not made a sound.  

Still, he heard Fjord stir.  “Molly?  Wasgoinon...”  Bedsprings creaked and fabric rustled as Fjord turned, detangling from whoever else was next to him.  Most of the party had piled onto the large bed; only Mollymauk and Caleb had taken the floor.  

“Nothing, nothing,” said Molly.  “Go back to sleep.”

“Sounded like you were crying.”  Fjord propped himself on one elbow, peering over the edge of the bed.  “What’s wrong?”

Fuck.  Had he?  How embarrassing.  “It’s nothing.  Go back to  _sleep,_ Fjord.”  The giant nursemaid.

Fjord stared at him for a minute, yellow eyes barely visible in the dark room.  “Get up here,” he said, grabbing at Molly’s shirt collar.

“What?  No, I’m--” Molly hissed.

“Is somethin’ going on?” asked Nott in a high-pitched whisper.  

Molly grimaced.  He didn’t want everyone to wake up, but Fjord  _would not let go_.  

And...hell.  A bed did seem nice. Crowding didn't bother him.  “Nothing, Nott, go back to sleep,” he whispered back, and clambered onto the edge of the bed, trying to jostle the cheap mattress as little as possible.  

Fjord rolled over, giving him a few more inches; as soon as Molly was settled, he rolled back again, half-sprawled along Molly’s chest.  “Now  _shh,”_ he said, the words muffled by Molly’s collarbone.  “No more of them nightmares.”

The whole situation felt absurd; Molly had to choke back a laugh.  He patted Fjord’s head.  “I’ll try my best.”


	15. babysitting [nott & molly]

“Gods, this is boring,” Mollymauk groaned, sprawling on the ground beside the campfire.  He and Nott had been waiting for hours for the rest of their group to get back.  They had learned the hard way that the little town didn’t like nonhumans when Fjord and Jester had been dragged to prison, and Beau and Caleb had thought it was a good idea for the tiefling and goblin to stay out of the city while they tried to retrieve their companions.  

Molly had agreed with them at the time.  A jailbreak would draw too much attention.  But there was only so much one could do out in the middle of the woods for several hours with only a child for company.  

“Can you show me how to play Quick Queen’s Bluff?” Nott asked.  She lightly kicked Molly’s leg.  Molly ignored this; he was pretty sure it was how the kid showed affection.

“Thought Jester did that already.”

“Well, yeah, but she tried to take my money an’ I pulled my sword on her so I don’t remember the rules too well.  And then we’ll have something to do.”

Molly sat up and eyed Nott.  She looked hopeful, and--hell, he wasn’t going to turn a kid down.  He'd always had a weakness for them, spending time with Toya and the few other kids in the circus whenever he could.  “Alright,” he said.  “No swords, though.  We’ll just play for fun.”

“Okay!” Nott agreed, nodding eagerly, and settled down.

Molly showed her the rules, and they passed the next few hours playing hands and swigging from their flasks.  By the time the other four came back, they were pleasantly buzzed and arguing about whether or not Molly had cheated.  (He had, but he knew for a fact that Nott had too.)

“Good girl,” Caleb said, ruffling Molly’s hair and patting the top of Nott’s hair as he settled down by the fire.  “Thanks for keeping an eye on this one.”

“You’re welcome,” Nott and Molly said at the same time.


	16. sleepover [nott & jester]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous: "While their all resting in a tavern after a hard fight jester gets nott to have a sleepover with her? Its a fun time had."

Relaxing was good.  Jester was a big fan, especially after two days of battling gnolls in a row; she hoped Nott was a fan too.

“What’s this supposed to do?” the goblin asked, looking at the bowl of oatmeal on the floor between them.  “Are we gonna eat it?”

“No, no, it is a face mask,” Jester explained.  “We put it on our face!  And then our skin will feel nice.”

Nott looked like she was skeptical, but didn’t want to argue.  “...Why?” she said finally.

“Because it is like food but for your skin!  Trust me, Nott, it will feel super nice, I promise.  You remember how good you felt after you had a nice bath?”  It had taken a lot of cajoling to actually get her to take a bath and put on clean clothes after the last battle--Nott still insisted on carrying her old ones in her pack--but once she did she kept looking at her clean hands and shirt and making pleased noises.  “It will be like that!  But like, fancier.  We will be fancy rich ladies.”

She still looked skeptical.  Well, Jester would show her.  

Nott took to being a fancy rich lady pretty well, especially when Jester told her that the next part was to lay down and relax.  Nott didn’t usually do that; Jester didn’t either.  But her back still hurt from where she had pulled a muscle the day before, and she knew Nott must be exhausted from all the running around to hunt gnolls.  So it was actually nice.

“Now it is time for gossip,” Jester ordered, flopping back on the bed. 

“What kind of gossip?” Nott asked, her yellow eyes wide.  “I know a lot of things, you know, on account of being sneaky.”

“Anything interesting.  Do you know of anyone who has been romantically involved, maybe?  Or has someone done a cool crime?”

Nott considered this.  “I saw Beau kissing Watchmaster Bryce yesterday,” she said after a moment.

“WHAT,” said Jester.  She thought Beau was still mooning about Yasha!  But that was some  _very_ good gossip.  “Tell me everything!  What did you see?  What happened?”

“Well--”

There was a knock on the door, and Caleb pushed it open without waiting for a response.  “Are you two okay--”

“Go away, Caleb!  We are having a sleepover!” Jester snapped.   _Really._ Overprotective fathers were the  _worst._ Probably.

The wizard blinked slowly.  Much too slowly for Jester’s tastes.  “Nott?  Is everything, er, going well?  What do you have on your face?”

Nott looked from Caleb to Jester and back.  “It’s a fancy face mask,” she said, “and we’re having a sleepover so I have to tell Jester all my fancy gossip.  I’ll see you in the morning, Caleb!  And I won’t tell her about--”

“Yes, yes, excellent,” said Caleb, turning red.  Jester’s eyes narrowed.  Now  _that_ was interesting.  “I’ll, er, see you in the morning, have fun!”


	17. problem-solving [jestermauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt from scornandivory on tumblr: " jester ending a petty argument by just like. picking molly up and throwing him over her shoulder."

“Jester, we need some herbs.  Do you understand what I mean?  We are running low on some very.  Important.  Plants and I would like to buy some more before you spend all our gold on donuts.”

Molly leaned across the table.  His smile was starting to feel forced, so he dropped it.  He had reached the limits of his charm; it so very rarely worked on Jester anyway.  She seemed gullible, but he had learned that it was hard to dissuade her when she was being stubborn.

Well, he could be stubborn too, he thought as she stomped her foot.   _Actually_ stomped her foot.  “I would like to buy some delicious treats before you go buy drugs!  I don’t understand why those are so important, anyway.  Are you not still drunk from last night?  Why do you need more drugs?”

He was hungover from last night, actually.  And--truth be told, Molly didn’t know why he was so set on it himself.  It wasn’t as if he was addicted to any substance in particular.  He just had felt like it this morning, and when Jester said that she would rather go to the pastry shop first, it had...somehow turned into this.  

Probably this was very stupid.  Probably Molly would need a hangover cure before he could even begin to care.  “Because I just  _do_ ,” he said.  He gestured at the rest of their friends, who had stopped weighing in for some reason.  “I’ve got an itch!  You wouldn’t try to stop Nott from stealing when  _she’s_ got the itch, would you?”

“Actually, we do try,” Caleb said, at the same time Nott protested, “Please don’t drag me into this.”

Jester huffed and planted her hands on her hips.  

“Have I mentioned you’re very attractive when you’re angry?” Molly said.  It wasn’t a lie, though he usually preferred her anger to be directed elsewhere.  

Jester, though, ignored his last-ditch attempt at charm.  “You are not going to change your mind?” she said, eyes narrowing.  Molly had the feeling he was being offered a lifeline.

“Absolutely not,” he confirmed.

“Fine,” said Jester, suddenly cheerful.  She stepped forward into his personal space; her arms went around his waist; Molly thought for a second that her persuasion was going in a  _very_ interesting direction.

it did, just not the direction he expected.  Jester threw him bodily over her shoulder. 

“PUT ME DOWN,” squawked Molly in a very dignified fashion. “You--you  _minx!”_

“We are going to the pastry shop now,” Jester announced.  Beau was giggling.  No one tried to rescue him from the deranged woman’s grasp.

“Sure, let’s go,” said Fjord easily.

“I hate you all,” said Molly.


	18. taking the hit [fjordmauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt on tumblr: "Hi! Can i request fjordmauk about fjord being done with molly letting himself get hurt, thank you! :)"
> 
> happy valentine's day!

“You idiot,” snarled Molly, clawing at Fjord’s armor.  “You absolute fucking  _idiot,_ Fjord, what were you  _thinking_ \--”

Fjord's wheezy laugh turned into a gasp of pain.  The arrow had pierced through his chest piece to stick just below his collarbone; acid left in its wake sizzled against metal and skin.  

“Don’t yell at him!” Jester scolded, batting Molly’s hands away.  He let her, more out of surprise at the attack than anything.  Molly hadn’t heard her approach.  “Okay, let me see...”

While she dithered with the injury, Molly stayed where he was, kneeling on blood-soaked dirt near Fjord’s head.  Fjord reached back with one hand and nudged Molly’s; he took his cue and let their fingers weave together.  “You  _idiot,”_ Molly said.  The words didn’t come out the way he meant to say them.  Instead of offended and detached, they were oddly--soft.  Fond.   _Shit._

“’M real tired of you always getting yourself hurt,” said Fjord.  He grit his teeth as Jester removed the arrow, his hand clenching around Molly’s until his knuckles turned white.  

“So what?” Molly snapped.  “You decided to show me what it feels like to see someone you care about get hurt?  Trust me, Fjord, I’ve seen that  _plenty._ ”  

He’d seen what had happened, alright, had seen Fjord step in front of an arrow that would have hit him otherwise.  And Mollymauk--he was a selfish creature.  For a long time, he had only cared about his own self-preservation.  But if this was what it took...he wasn’t worth that.  Not from Fjord.

Healing silver-blue light beamed from Jester’s hands, and Fjord relaxed, letting out a sigh.  For a few minutes Mollymauk thought he wasn’t going to respond at all.  In a way, it would be a relief.  Then:  “Someone you care about, huh?”  His tone was light, but his face was too open for that.

“I--well, of course.”

A grin played at the corner of Fjord's mouth.  “You’re welcome, by the way.”  

He  _had_ been rather ungrateful, hadn’t he?  He should probably fix that.  Molly didn’t usually yell at people who had helped him.  Even if they were idiots.

Molly leaned forward slowly, eyes flickering to Fjord’s to see if this was welcome.  Fjord only raised an eyebrow, chin twitching in a tiny nod as if to say,  _Go on._

The kiss was at an awkward angle, and they still tasted of blood from the fight and ale from lunch.  But it was gentle, sweet without the expectation of something more when they were both tired and injured.  

Molly broke it after just a moment, and drew back to see Fjord watching him in that studying way of his.  “Thank you, Fjord,” he said quietly.

“Eep,” said Jester.  

Molly flinched, startled; he had honestly forgotten she was there.  Again.  That didn’t usually happen with Jester.  But she was looking at them and grinning as her magic faded from her hands.  “Don’t mind me!  Go back to your kissing.  But Fjord, take it easy, I think I got all the acid out but you will still be sore for tonight.”


	19. lessons [nott & caleb]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> twinvax: "Magic lessons with a wizard and a rogue."  
> anonymous: "aaaaa if ur still taking ficlet requests, could i get some caleb being sweet to/about nott?"

“First things first.  If you’re going to do magic, you need to know magical theory.  That’s where you will learn the basics, and those will help you learn new spells faster,” Caleb said.  He fished in his coat.

Nott fidgeted.  She didn’t much like the whole  _theory_ bit.  Her magic was things she learned from watching Caleb and other wizards that she’d run into, and that was going fine--what did it matter how it worked?  She didn’t say that, though.  He looked so pleased when he pulled a smallish book covered in worn red leather out of his robes and held it out to her.

“That’s, um...” she reached for the book, trying to puzzle out the title on the front, but she’d never been able to make the little squiggles make sense.  Nott learned most things by watching other people do them first, but it was hard to pick up reading that way.  “That’s a book.”

“Yes!  A book of magic, you see, for beginners.  I had one just like it for--” His smile flickered for a moment, and Nott just waited.  They both had bad things they didn’t talk about, and knew not to bother each other when they remembered.  “Well, I had one just like it.  It will teach you all you need to know, now that you’re learning.”

She shifted from foot to foot.  “Won’t you be teaching me, though?” That was what she was hoping for; Nott always liked watching Caleb do magic.  She thought they would be able to do it together now, not that she would learn everything from a  _book._ They weren’t even shiny.

“Of course, of course, dreckspatz.  Just read the first chapter and then we can talk about it, and I can answer any questions you’ll have.  Good?”

Nott nodded.  “Yeah.  I can--I can do that.”  She could try, at least.

Caleb ruffled her hair, beaming.  “Good!  Then I will sit in this chair and read my book, and you can read yours.”  And with that he flopped down into one of the chairs in the room.

Nott gingerly took the other.  She opened the book.  Stared at the page.  Flipped the page, stared some more, flipped back.  It didn’t help.

“Caleb,” she said finally, “I don’t know how to read.”

Caleb flinched, actually flinched, in his seat, and Nott instinctively used the book to shield herself--what if he got angry?  But he didn’t, just looked at her with big sad eyes.  “No one ever taught you?”

She shook her head.  Nott didn’t remember too well, but she was pretty sure her parents didn’t know how to read either.  

“Well then.”  Caleb’s jaw set.  He set his book aside and patted his knee.  “Come over here, and we’ll fix that.  You’re a quick learner, you’ll pick it up in no time.”


	20. "can i join you?" [widofjordmauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous: "Hey, un, so the We'll Make It Work, do you still take requests? If so could you do a Fjord/Caleb/Molly “Can I join you?” ?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone else is wondering the same thing as anon: I'm not taking new fic prompts until I clear out the 5 or so still in my inbox. feel free to check back after the weekend if you have an idea, i'm @bloodmaledict.

Caleb glanced uncomfortably around the hall as he knocked on the door to Fjord and Mollymauk’s room at the inn where they had bunked for the night.  Fjord answered, confusion sharpening into wariness when he looked at Caleb.  “Hey.  Somethin’ wrong?”

“No.  I, well...Jester has taken over mine and Nott’s bedroom.  Apparently they are having a girl’s night, and I am not welcome.”  He sighed and offered a small shrug.  On one hand he was glad Nott was making some friends other than him; on the other, he had been looking forward to a good night’s sleep.  “So, can I join you and Mollymauk for the night?”  

His next option was Beau’s room.  She would have an extra bed, but frankly Caleb didn’t think bothering her was worth it.

Fjord hesitated, and his green skin darkened to brown as he blushed.  Caleb frowned.  What was that about?

“Of course he can!” Molly called from inside the room.  “More fun that way.”

“ _Molly,”_ said Fjord, but he opened the door, letting Caleb pass.

He nearly protested--if Fjord was reluctant to let Caleb bunk with them, he could understand, even if it did hurt his feelings a bit.

Then Caleb noticed that Molly was currently sprawled on the bed.  The one bed.  In the room that Fjord had specifically requested for the two of them.

Caleb blinked.  Molly smirked.

“How long has this been going on?” Caleb asked as Fjord shut the door.

He circled around to sit at the edge of the bed.  “Er.  On and off since we met, I guess.”

This was...unexpected.  Caleb considered offering to go room with Beau instead, just to avoid the awkwardness, but part of him resisted.  They had told him to come in, after all.  And he was a bit curious about where this was going.  He nodded jerkily.  “I can take the floor?”

Mollymauk and Fjord looked at each other.  “Or you could take the bed instead,” Molly said slowly.  “There’s plenty of room.”

There was not.

If Caleb had known what he was getting into when he joined this mad little group, he might have run screaming.  Good thing he didn’t; he would have missed out.

“Good point,” said Caleb.  He didn’t need a full night’s sleep that badly, anyway.


	21. makeup [nott & molly]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt: "Molly decides to use his makeup for the first time on nott one night to help her feel pretty after a bad day."
> 
> Happy Thursday!

In hindsight, the only surprising thing was that they had gone so long without anyone making a fuss about Nott being...well, Nott.  Not that Molly was grateful, or anything.  The fact that they had gone for weeks without incident may have just made it feel worse when the ball dropped and some angry townspeople decided that a goblin, even a small goblin girl, wasn’t welcome in their excuse for a village.

As they hit the road once again, Nott had clung to Caleb’s robes and tried to disappear.  Everyone had reassured her that everything was fine and they loved her.  Everyone but Molly, anyway.  When shit like this happened to him, he preferred to just not talk about it and move on; judging by the way Nott nodded without a response besides a weak “thank you,” she wanted to forget too.  

So he hung back as they traveled.  Left her alone as they set up camp for the night.  And then he volunteered for the watch with her.

She looked pathetic, hunkering down behind her coat and mask.  He would have to do something about those, Molly decided.  Of course she seemed suspicious dressed in rags.  Most of the time you had to look rich just to get a foot in the door with the more xenophobic types.  

“Have you ever tried makeup, Nott?” Molly asked half an hour into their watch.  Just making conversation.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  He settled back onto his elbows, gaze on the forest past their fire.

She blinked owlishly at him.  “...No?”  Nott paused.  “Well, I stole some of that lip stuff once.  Tried to put it on but I couldn’t do it right so I just ate it.”

Molly blinked.   _Alright then._   “How did it taste?”

Shrugging, Nott said, “It was okay.  Kinda waxy, and there wasn’t enough of it.”

Molly wanted to ask a few followup questions, but he had an objective in mind.  “What if I showed you how to make yourself up properly?”  He didn’t wear much obvious makeup himself; it was too much trouble to put on, especially considering the amount of fighting they did.  But he was quite good at putting it on other people.  She could look pretty, and wouldn’t have to know he had an ulterior motive.  

Slowly she nodded.  “Okay.  Can I see it when you’re done, if it’s good?”

“Of course, dear.  Come here, let me see...”

Molly dug in his pack until he found his supplies.  Red lip paint wouldn’t work for her, but he did have a bit of dark blue that went well with her skin tone; kohl brought out her eyes.  As he worked he narrated, explaining to Nott what he was doing, playfully poking Nott into stillness when she complained that the kohl  _tickled._

One he was done, Molly pulled out the small mirror Jester always kept in her pack to show Nott her reflection.

She stared at the mirror, touching her mouth; a small smile formed on her face.  “I look so...fancy,” Nott said with a small laugh.

“Very fancy,” Molly said.  “Absolutely stunning.  Just wait til the others wake up, they’ll tell you the same thing.”

Nott beamed at him.  And in the morning when everyone woke up, Molly made sure to tell them they  _better_ compliment the girl--especially since she had put aside her mask for the occasion.


	22. sweet dreams [fjorester]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fjord doesn't want to share his dreams with the class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't prompted, I just really wanted to expound on that moment from the last episode. As always, comments and kudos would be appreciated.

“Any dreams at all?”

Funny Jester would say that, since it’s  _all her fault._

The night before, Nott, Caleb, Fjord, and Jester fell into the one tiny bed together without caring about who they ended up next to. Nott ended up sprawled across Caleb’s chest, which was fine for  _them._ But Fjord had some idea of personal space, especially with people who he barely knew, so he crowded against the wall and tried to leave a few centimeters of separation between himself and Jester.

Jester did not get the memo, a-fucking-pparently. She climbed in bed and rolled into him, propping her head on his chest and slinging her leg over his like he was a pillow.

Fjord froze and stared at her.  

“You’re supposed to put your arm around me,” she whispered, eyes closed, accent stronger with sleepiness. “It’s much more comfortable, you should try it.”

So Fjord did, because he rarely refused to do things that someone whispered for him to do in bed.  

He fell asleep to the feeling of Jester pressed against him, one of her arms slung around his waist. Next thing he remembered, she was on top of him instead. Everyone else in the room was gone or something, they hadn’t mattered, and Jester was giggling as she moved his hands up her thighs beneath her skirt--

Fjord woke up excruciatingly hard, and she wason top of him. Because of course she was. When he shifted underneath her, trying to think of some way to get out of this situation with his dignity intact, Jester put her mouth next to his ear.

“You seemed like you were having a good time,” she whispered.  He could  _feel_ her grinning.

Fjord felt the blood rushing to his face.  If only it could rush out of his dick, while it was at it. One of her thighs was pressed between his and it wasn’t helping the situation. “I didn’t sayanything, did I?”

“No, you just made some noises, and you were very quiet,” she assured him. “I only heard because I was right here. Better than having another dream that makes you throw up though, right?”

Alright, she had a point there. Fjord’s problem wasn’t the dream itself so much as the fact that he’d had it in a room full of virtual strangers, including a child, and now he really wanted to  _take care_ of things but he couldn’t.  “True,” Fjord mumbled.

“Now go back to sleep, Fjord, it’s still too early,” she whispered, and settled back against him. It took him a while, but Fjord managed to do what she said once again.

So when Jester grins at him the next morning, chin propped on her hand, Fjord just says, “None that I care to speak of.”

But hell. If she asks later, he’ll probably give her a demonstration.


	23. team player [beau & caleb]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt: "The less human team mates are threatened and hurt, Beau and Caleb kick some ass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this tipsy & will probably clean it up tomorrow
> 
> the plot, such as it is, is basically mordin's recruitment mission from mass effect 2 but fantasy

Caleb was panicking, which was just great.

Beau wasn’t doing much better.  Ever since they’d gotten trapped in Zadash’s quarantine a few days ago, they had to race against the disease, trying to figure out the source of the plague while their companions had fallen sick around them.  Nott had fallen ill first, coughing her little heart out and unable to keep food down; Jester next after tending to as many nonhumans as she could; then Molly, who was the best caretaker of them all; and finally Fjord, while they were on their way to the lab of the best alchemist in the city.

“It’s fine,” he had said, collapsing against the alchemist’s walls, chest heaving with the effort of speaking.  “Go on.  Y’all can get it to the palace yourself, and they’ll take care of the rest.”

None of them had died yet, but even with the cure in Beau’s pack, it wasn’t looking good.  Not with hordes of fucking plague zombies after them, anyway.  (Beau assumed they were plague zombies.  Regular zombies didn’t usually puke that much.)

“Just three more blocks,” she yelled to Caleb, who was currently hiding behind a building.  She could hear him hyperventilating, which, fuckin’ perfect.  Beau  _thwapped_ a plague zombie with her staff and dodged a spray of vomit.  “Three more blocks and we can save them, Caleb, come  _on--_ ”

 _Thwap._ Another zombie down, brains bashed out. They didn’t need to beat all of these things, they just needed a way  _through_ \--

“Duck!” Caleb yelled.  Magic and flame crackled at her back.  

Beau threw herself onto the ground, smearing zombie brains on her shirt, and she couldn’t even be mad at the guy because a  _fireball_ flew over her head and landed in the crowd of zombies.  They went up like tinder, the air filling with the cooked-meat smell of a really nasty barbecue.

“Good fuckin’ job, Caleb, let’s go!” Beau said, and not  _It’s about time,_ because she was a team player.

They ran into the palace, throwing open the doors and ignoring the guards who tried to stop them.  The miniature golden model of the city was just where the alchemist said it would be--sitting in his lab on a table.  Beau spared a thought to how pretty the thing was before she dumped the contents of the vial over the city.

The moment Beau emptied the thing, thick, greenish rain started to fall just outside the windows.

She collapsed by the table, lungs heaving with the effort of her last sprint.  Caleb smeared himself down beside her in a similar condition.

“We did it,” he said, and offered her a high-five.

“We did,” Beau agreed, grinning as she accepted.  “Nice job with that fireball, by the way.”

Guards ran in after them half a second later and started to put both of them in cuffs.  Beau didn’t even bother protesting, and neither did Caleb; it took too much oxygen, and besides, they always managed to get out of these things.

“You think they’ll be alright?” Caleb asked.

She didn’t bother to ask who he meant.  “They better be,” said Beau.  “We went to a hell of a lot of trouble.”


	24. contry matters [fjorestermauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scornandivory on tumblr: "cirque du oy vey veeeeeeeeeeeeeery loose leverage au with like caleb as the very exasperated depressed mastermind and his Band Of Raggamuffin Fuckwaffle Teammates. specifically with, like a focus on fjord/jester/molly? idk this is a very vague idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> then me & jay scornandivory started chatting about femme!molly & drag and this happened. disclaimer: i don't know shit about drag, i am a failure as a gay.
> 
> title is a bad pun on cons + "country matters" as a vag pun. i was trying to think of a drag name.

Their little team had taken Fjord many interesting places, but undercover at a drag show was quickly becoming the most interesting.

Molly was almost unrecognizable as his (her? Molly liked to switch it up even without the drag stuff, so Fjord decided to go with that for now) alter ego. Molly often dressed loudly, sure, but Fjord hadn’t ever seen her like  _this--_ eyelashes practically up to his hairline, a hemline down to her ankle on one side and up to her fishnet-stockinged hip on the other, heels that put her taller than Fjord...

He’d seen drag shows before, alright, he’d gone to his share of gay bars when he was first figuring himself out. But he had always thought of queens as more campy than sexy. This? With Molly? Was both. It helped that he could recognize her underneath all the clothes, knew it was  _Molly_ putting all this on display.

Jester climbed on Molly’s lap, applying the finishing touches to her makeup despite Molly’s insistence that she not do that. Sadly Fjord didn’t have an excuse to join them, and Molly didn’t have nearly enough lap space, so he just stood off to the side with his hand on Jester’s shoulder.

“I think that’s about enough,” said Molly finally.

“Hmm, no,” said Jester. She tugged at the cloth wrapped around Molly’s chest, opening it to expose more planes of muscle, carefully contoured cleavage, and lines of scarring. “What do you think, Fjord? Showing enough skin here?”  

She grinned at him impishly, showing tiefling-sharp teeth, and ran her fingers over one of the scars.  

“Jester,” said Mollly, more of a purr than a protest. 

“I, uh,” Fjord said.

“Please, Fjord, I really do value your opinion,” Molly continued. The tieflings locked eyes, and a smirk spread across Molly’s face too.

“We have a  _con_ to run,” huffed Caleb over the comms, “and only two of you are supposed to be sleeping together in this one, so if you three are  _quite_ done flirting backstage--”

“Wait, who’s sleeping together really then?” Beau asked, voice a little ragged, probably because she was currently supposed to be scaling the building.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Fjord, and ignored Molly and Jester snickering at him.


	25. unspoken agreement [jestergard]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester holds Beau to her terms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, this was unprompted. ~whatever~. 
> 
> also is the ship name beaujester or jestergard??

When they trailed back to their rooms, exhausted and still bloodied from their excursion into the mines, Jester pulled Beau back with a hand on her arm.  She looked at Jester’s hand first, brow furrowed, and her eyes slowly trailed up Jester’s arm to her face.

Jester gave her a minute.  They were tired.  It was okay to be a little slow.  “What?” Beau said finally.  She tilted her head, and a strand of sweaty hair fell into her face.

“I know we agreed,” Jester said, “but we are tired and gross and I think that we should wait until tomorrow, after we have had a bath.”  Which was too bad.  Even though they had managed to save a few villagers, she had still seen a bunch of gnolls eat people.  She could use some cheering up.

Beau stared at her, brow furrowed.  “...What are you talking about.”

“This morning!”  The hair bothered her.  Jester pushed it back into place behind Beau’s ear, ignoring her raised eyebrow.  “I looked at you and you looked at me and we made an _unspoken agreement_  like Fjord thought he did.  Remember?”

If Beau didn’t, this was going to be really embarrassing. But Beau just blinked.  “Oh.  Yeah.  I guess whatever that is can wait til tomorrow.”

Jester laughed.  Beau was kind of slow right now but she wasn’t  _that_ slow.  “Silly.  I am going to go have a really long bath now, I will see you later.”  She poked the end of Beau’s nose with one finger, and darted up the stairs.

The next morning--well, afternoon, but everyone was just finishing up breakfast so that made it kind of morning--Jester tugged Beau away from their table.  She had found a nice big closet upstairs down the hall from their room.  “You’re good now, right?  To do the thing we agreed to?” Jester asked, once she shut the door.

“Um.” Beau looked around the room, blinking.  Oh, right; she couldn’t see in the dark.  “Listen, Jester...I still don’t know what we agreed to.”

Really?  “ _Really_?” Jester asked.  She thought she had been pretty obvious.

“So like, if you want to vandalize this closet or switch out the linens with rabbits or something, that’s fine, but can you please explain what we’re doing here?” Beau asked, finishing the sentence with a huff of air.  

Okay so those weren’t her ideas, but they were good ones anyway.  Hmm.  She should remember that for later; bunnies sounded way better than sheets.  “Technically I was planning on making out with you in this closet, technically,” Jester explained, waving at the small space between them even though the gesture would be lost on Beau.

Beau stiffened; her head snapped up to stare right at Jester.  It was a little spooky actually.  “Seriously?”

“Yeah.  But you know, if you didn’t agree that’s fine!  We can go do something else, the bunnies sound like a good idea.”  It would be a shame--she did kind of want to make out with Beau--but Jester could deal.  

For another minute Beau stared at her.  Her mouth was hanging open, so Jester reached out to push it shut--she looked like a goldfish--but Beau grabbed her hand and held it against her jaw.  “No.  Uh, making out sounds pretty great actually.”

“Good, I was hoping,” said Jester, and closed the distance between them.


	26. tragic backstory [widofjord]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous on tumblr: "if you're taking prompts for them, caleb/fjord werewolf AU?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to work not to rip off my own jestermauk fic, which is why I skipped over most of the transformation scene. included are some of my vague headcanons about caleb's backstory, although I doubt werewolves were actually involved.

Caleb shakes him awake in the middle of the night. “Fjord.  Fjord, I’m sorry, I need your help.”

Fjord looks around the camp first, but there’s nothing wrong, no intruders. Only Caleb, eyes wide and bright, feverish. “Waswrong?” he asks, scrubbing at his eyes.

“I need your help with something.” He licks his lips and pulls back as Fjord sits up.  Even with a few inches between them, Fjord can feel the heat coming off of him. “Something dangerous. Away from the others.”

Fjord’s eyes narrow. He didn’t survive this long without being able to spot a trap; Fjord likes Caleb, he does, but he needs a lot more than that to go on.  “Explain. What’s so fuckin’ dangerous?”

“I-- _scheisse._ ” Caleb doubles over. There’s an odd sound that reminds Fjord of teeth grinding. “Me. It’s me, Fjord, I’m a werewolf. And I need you to make sure I don’t kill anyone tonight.”

“Shit,” says Fjord, and Caleb chuckles. It would be cute if it weren’t this. If he didn’t sound so bitter.  If he weren’t a fucking  _werewolf._ “How long?”

“Since we were--a few months. This is the third time I’ve changed.”

It doesn’t help Fjord much. He doesn’t know shit about werewolves, except that they’re bad news. Fjord stands and rummages in his pack for rope; Caleb breathes a sigh of relief once he sees it.

“If you’ve any silver, I’d recommend you take it,” he says.  Fjord glances over at him, eyebrow raised. Caleb is so concerned with self-preservation, he wouldn’t have expected the man to remind Fjord of a weakness. “Not that I want you to use it,” Caleb adds hastily. “But I’ve seen what this can do to others. If you’re bitten you don’t always survive, and I...” He shudders, but whether it’s from the change or fear or revulsion Fjord doesn’t know.

“C’mon,” Fjord says, and drags Caleb into the woods.  He doesn’t have any silver, but he has his falchion, the knowledge of it in its pocket dimension almost as comforting as the weight itself.

It’s a hell of a long night.

Fjord sits with him through the change, tries to be reassuring even when Caleb seems delirious. He never gets violent. Just--wild. Fjord ties him to a thick tree; once he’s a wolf he goes crazy for a second, tries to gnaw through the rope, but then he settles down and looks at him and Fjord knows it’s Caleb again.

They doze on and off til sunrise, Fjord shaking himself awake every now and then; and then Fjord wakes for the last time as Caleb’s form starts to crack and flex and shiver again, the same change happening in reverse, until there’s just a wizard huddled on the forest floor.

“Thank you,” he says as Fjord unties him, grabs onto Fjord’s sleeve to make him look. “Thank you, I mean it.”

Fjord thought he was too tired to feel much of anything at this point, but Caleb proves him wrong. “Any time,” he says. After all, this is gonna be a regular thing.

Caleb sleeps for most of the next day. Fjord doesn’t try to wake him, just tells the others that they’re going to stay and rest another day in the same spot. No one really fights him; they’ve all gotten tired of the slog, and Jester distracts everyone with a picnic. 

Only Nott asks in a whisper, “Is Caleb alright? He changed again, didn’t he?”

“Now, how did you know about that?” Fjord murmurs back, frowning.

“That’s what happened the day before we met you. I didn’t know what was happening and we were both really scared, but you know, it was fine. And then he slept for forever, like this,” says Nott. 

“He ever talk about what happened to him?”

Nott shakes her head. “No, he didn’t say nothin’.”

Well, that’s got to change, Fjord thinks.

Caleb wakes up in the late afternoon when the others are still out. Once Fjord hears him moving around the tent he grabs some of their rations--nothing fancy, but filling at least--and ducks under the flap.

“Thank you. Again,” Caleb says, snatching it from his hands. Fjord nods, sits on the ground, and waits. The wizard doesn’t take long. “I suppose you’ll want some answers.”

“You suppose right,” Fjord drawls. Maybe it’s hypocritical, but--his shit isn’t going to endanger their little group. He’s truthful about the stuff that matters now, the stuff that could hurt them, and Caleb wasn’t. He wishes it didn’t sting so much.

Caleb gulps down jerky and chases it with half the water in one of the skins before he answers. He doesn’t look much better than he did the night before, pale and dirty and worn thin. Fjord has the oddest urge to hug him or something--anything to make Caleb seem a little less fragile.  

“They attacked our village,” Caleb says finally.

“Yours and Nott’s?”

“No. My family’s.” He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “My husband and our children were killed. I was--not.” Caleb’s voice starts to waver and Fjord wants to tell him to stop, don’t worry about it, he doesn’t need to know that badly.  

He’s changed three times, he had said the night before. Three months since he lost his family.

_Shit._

Fjord has no idea what to say to this, so he gives into the earlier urge and jerks Caleb into a rough hug. It’s awkward, Caleb half-leaning across Fjord’s lap, one arm dangling uselessly while the other fumbles to rest on Fjord’s leg. “I’m sorry,” Fjord says finally. “You don’t have to say anymore.”

Caleb nods. “It’s fine,” he says, voice muffled by Fjord’s shirt. “Fuck. No, it’s not, but you deserve to know. Thank you for helping me.”

“Not gonna pretend it was no trouble. But it was no trouble, Caleb.”

The wizard laughs a little, pats Fjord’s leg. “Alright, then. Is it too much to ask you’ll--continue?”

“Not at all.” He ruffles Caleb’s hair with one hand, or means to, but ends up just cupping the back of Caleb’s fluffy head. “You might owe me a coffee or five, though.”


	27. negotiations [fjorestergast]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt on tumblr: "Can I get some polyamory negotiations? Fjord/Jester/Caleb would be nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lbr if any polyamorous ship happens in canon it'll be this one

“So,” Jester said, flopping on the ground next to Caleb, “you want to be Fjord’s boyfriend.”

Caleb stared at her and very slowly put away his book. When Jester volunteered to take watch with him, he didn’t know what he expected--for her to turn him purple, perhaps--but not this. He considered his words very carefully. “...Why do you ask?” She hadn’t  _asked_ so much as told, but Caleb could at least pretend she was more circumspect.

“Because I am Fjord’s girlfriend. So I thought, you know, if you want to be his boyfriend too that’s fine! But we should talk about it, right? Do you have any questions about him first? He snores, I can tell you that, but I guess you already know--”

“ _Jester,”_ said Caleb, holding up his hands, “what the  _fuck_ are you talking about.”

He was not prepared for this conversation. Not even close. The last time he had attempted courtship of any kind it had been  _simple,_ not with this odd collection of family that had been thrown at him. And only one person had been involved.

Sighing like Caleb was the one not making any sense here, Jester said, “Are you even paying attention to me? It’s not that hard.”

“Can you explain the part where you’re Fjord’s girlfriend, first?” Did she know what the word meant? The common had tripped Caleb up when he was first learning. “I didn’t know you were...together.”

“Well, we are. I flirt with him all the time, did you not notice?”

He had. He had just thought it was Jester. “And you’re really fine if I would also like to be involved with Fjord.” Which, how had she even picked up on that? Caleb thought he was being  _subtle,_ damn it.

Jester shrugged. “Why not? You are a little nerd, but I still like you. And Nott is cute. If you see Fjord then I could be her stepmother! Or something! I’m not sure how that works. Would I be her stepmother, do you think?”

He didn’t know how to answer that one, either.

“But, well.” Jester leaned forward, her usual playfulness melting away into something more serious. “Are  _you_ fine with that?”

Strangely enough, Caleb thought, he was. He was not in a place now to--monopolize anyone’s time; he didn’t think he could bear all the focus of one person, or support them in a relationship on his own.

Caleb had never been the jealous type. It occurred to him that it might be nice to have an ally.

“Yes,” Caleb said slowly, “I think so.”

Jester nodded in satisfaction, and they looked around camp for a moment, belatedly realizing they were both on watch.

Then it occurred to Caleb that one person’s opinion was missing from this situation.

“Are you sure that  _Fjord_ is interested in  _me_?” he said. That, after all, was part of why he had held back from saying anything so far. If Fjord wasn’t interested, it wasn’t worth risking rejection.

Jester rolled her eyes. “He asked me if I would be okay if he said something to you. But he’s being a big chicken about it. Don’t worry.” She paused and poked at the embers of the fire. “Also the other day I made myself look like you when we were making out, he was pretty into that.”

“Um,” said Caleb, because he had no idea how to respond there.

Jester glanced up, utterly unembarrassed. “Oh, yeah, maybe don’t tell him I told you about it?”


	28. cliché pt. 2 [fjordmauk]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous prompt on tumblr: "could we get some more fjordmolly? I love that pair sm, maybe molly trying comfort fjord after having another 'meeting' with his patron. I think molly would relate to having nightmares."

Molly heard the choking sound and got out of his bed, crossing to the other side of the night-dark inn room, before he realized what had happened.

Fjord was leaning over to cough up seawater onto the gnarled wooden floor beside his bed. Molly began to reach out, but something stopped him;  _he_ never liked to be touched when he was vomiting, certainly not with no warning, certainly not after a nightmare. So he only sat gingerly behind Fjord on the mattress, tail twitching nervously as Fjord finished expelling the water and took a deep, rasping breath.

“Alright?” Molly asked softly.

Fjord leaned back, found Molly’s shoulder behind him, and froze in place. “’M alright,” he said. “What’re you doing here?”

Molly rolled his eyes. Really, must Fjord always suspect his motives? “I heard you choking in your sleep. Thought I might have to perform a dashing rescue.” He shifted in place so that the other man could more comfortably lean on him, and after another moment Fjord took the hint, his head resting against Molly’s collarbone.

“So what are you doing  _now_?” Fjord asked. His sardonic look was much less effective when it was coming from below Molly’s eye level.

“Being...comforting, I suppose, or trying to.” Tentatively--joking, he was joking, and Molly smiled to prove it--he curled one of his arms around Fjord’s waist, fingers brushing the skin of Fjord’s hip between his trousers and undershirt. “Is it working?”

“Mmm. Depends. Are you going to stay?” Fjord’s eyes drifted lazily shut, but Molly could feel him tense even as Molly’s heartbeat seemed to double.

He considered his answer. Licked his lips. “Not in this position, I hope,” he said finally. “My arm is about to go to sleep.”

Fjord chuckled. “Shoulda thought of that first,” he said.


	29. defense [jestergard]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt: "thank u for doing the gods' work. Can I prompt Beauregard + [1 or more member of the team] + getting protective over her (& her crappy family stuff)? bonus points for jester bc i'm loving ur jestergard stuff but i'd be overjoyed with gen too!"

“ _You!”_ Jester said, stepping very dramatically out of the shadows, and for the first time Beau saw Expositor Dairon actually look surprised. “You’re the one who’s been beating up Beau, you big bald bastard!”

“Jester, it’s not--” Beau started, biting back a super inappropriate giggle, and then winced as the words tugged at her newly split lip.

 _Of course_ Jester had managed to follow them.

The tiefling advanced, pushing her finger into Dairon’s chest, her face still contorted into a scowl. “Well, no more hurting Beau because I have to patch her up and it’s not good, okay, no one said you were allowed to do that and you need to stop.”

 _“Jester_ ,” Beau said again. She could feel her face heating up. Not in a bad way; she wasn’t embarrassed. Just...warm. Because Jester was sticking up for her, even if there was no reason to.

Jester’s head snapped to the side; her tail lashed. “What?”

“It’s fine. Me and Dairon--can I call you Dairon?” The Expositor narrowed her eyes. “Cool. Anyway, she’s been teaching me how to fight and other cool monk shit.” Jester was still scowling, so Beau smiled, trying to sound sincere. “It’s all good, Jester, I swear. You don’t have to kick her ass for me.”

Not that Beau would be opposed to watching that show.

Dairon rolled her eyes and grabbed Jester’s wrist, pulling the tiefling’s hand away from her. “Are you quite done?” she said.

Jester stared back and yanked her wrist from Dairon’s grasp. “Fine,” she said, “but you’re getting off easy. And I’m going to stay here and watch and make sure that Beau doesn’t get too hurt.”

“These are secret--”

“I’m staying!”

Beau gave Dairon a smirk; she couldn’t help it. Something about the combination of leftover adrenaline and Jester’s sudden appearance had giddiness bubbling through her. “She  _did_ already follow us here,” Beau said. 

Dairon sighed and relented.

Afterward, once the lesson was over and Beau was sufficiently battered, Jester pulled her off into a corner of the abandoned barn Dairon had chosen for them and set to healing her new injuries.

“Thanks, by the way,” Beau said as Jester’s hand skimmed over her bruised jaw. “I mean, the whole sneaking around and following me isn’t the most reassuring thing. But it was good of you to try and help out.”

“I know,” Jester said with a disapproving sniff. “I still think you are being silly. The Traveler teaches me a lot of things, and he never has to beat me up for it.”

“You’re missing out then,” Beau said with a short laugh, and tapped Jester under the chin so that the tiefling met her eyes. “I mean it, though. Thank you.”


	30. subtlety [jesteryasha]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt: "ARE YOU TAKIN PROMPTS.... i love your ficlets is it possible to ask for jester/yasha with a disgruntled yasha trying to discern between whether or not jester’s ACTUALLY picking up on her flirting or just being her usual trickster self"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was my first time writing yasha; I'm not super happy with how it turned out but oh well lmao

"Sweetheart, I think you might need to take a less subtle approach,” muttered Molly out of the corner of his mouth, and Yasha elbowed him. Molly thought anything but laying on a bed and covering yourself in rose petals was too subtle.

“ _Me_ being subtle isn’t the problem,” Yasha muttered back, and leaned back in her chair. Without her permission, her eyes drifted to Jester. The woman was a few tables over with Nott and Caleb, excitedly showing them her new bracelet. Yasha’d found it in a market stall a couple weeks back; it wasn’t anything too fancy, just simple silver chain with a dark blue stone for a charm, but it had made Yasha think of Jester.

When she handed it over, Jester had squealed, thrown her arms around Yasha’s neck, and proclaimed that Yasha was her favorite, which was nice. Then she had said, “Fjord, look what Yasha got me! Isn’t she the best friend ever?”

Fjord had sent Yasha a sardonic look, so like, she knew the communication issue was not coming from her end.

“What you need to do,” Molly continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “is make her a little cake, and then use the frosting to spell out that you have little crush. Make sure she actually reads it first. I’ve seen the girl eat a dozen donuts in five minutes.”

Yasha  _did_ like baking. But she’d save that for another time.

Instead she fidgeted in her chair for a few minutes, then walked over to where Jester was playing with Frumpkin near the fire. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure, sure, what do you need?” Jester asked, scratching behind Frumpkin’s ears.

“Somewhere private.”

“That’s fine, come on,” said Jester. She stood and grabbed Yasha’s hand, tugging her along with surprising strength. Yasha stared. “We can go outside, outside is nice.”

So they did, and Yasha ended up in the alley behind the inn, resisting the urge to pace with nerves. Actually talking to Jester had seemed like a good idea when she had first gotten up, but now... 

“Um,” said Yasha.

“Yes?” Jester leaned against the wall, folding her hands behind her back. “Did you need something? Is there something secret you need to tell me because I am very good with secrets, trust me, just the other day Molly told me something  _very_ cool but did I tell anyone? No, because I am great at secrets.”

“I’mtryingtohitonyou,” Yasha said in a long rush of air, then took a deeper breath. “Listen. Jester. You’re adorable, I’m flirting with you, if you’re cool with it I’d like to keep doing that and maybe we can make a thing of it? If not then, you know, that’s cool too.”

It was not, but Yasha had an image to maintain.

Jester’s eyes widened. “Oh! Yeah, I knew you were. It’s very sweet, you’re doing great.” She patted Yasha’s arm, beaming.

She couldn’t help smiling back. It was hard not to, with Jester. “So, uh, we’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Jester abruptly stood on her toes and kissed Yasha on the cheek. “Hey, is it okay if I sit on your lap when we’re inside?”

Molly might never let her live this down. Yasha could deal with that.


	31. bother figure [nott & caleb]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anon prompt: "nott accidentally calls caleb dad/ and or accidentally calls jester sister."

Nott was having trouble sleeping. She got like that sometimes, Caleb knew; she had too much damn energy for her little self to handle, and now that their lives had suddenly gotten so exciting, she had trouble adjusting when they had slow days.

Normally, Caleb could deal with that. But today they were crowded in a room with Beau and Fjord, since the inn only had two free rooms, and he didn’t think their roommates appreciated Nott’s frequent squeaky questions or excursions across the room to their packs.

“Do you want me to tell you a story?” Caleb said, and Nott said yes, so Caleb started telling Nott the story of the Goose Girl but it turned into a story of how a clever maid managed to take the place of a mean princess and marry a prince.

“And then she stole the prince’s stuff and ran off and lived happily ever after?”

“Exactly,” Caleb said, his eyes drifting shut, and ignored Beau’s muffled giggles.

“Good,” said Nott. Her voice was muffled, and there was a rustle of blankets as she rolled over. “Thanks for the story, Papa. ‘Night.”

“Nott--” Caleb started, more out of surprise than anything; he had no idea what he was going to say to that. 

It had been a long time since anyone had called him that.

He had forgotten how much he missed it, even if the voice who said it was different.

“Yes?”

“...Goodnight, liebling,” he said. Caleb wasn’t going to let his voice waver, goddammit, and if he sounded weak then the others could pass it off as sleepiness; that was all.

Nott made a noise of assent, and then was quiet.

“Awww _,_ ” Beau murmured.

“ _Hush_ ,” said Fjord.


	32. eavesdropping [fjorestergast]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caleb sees something he probably shouldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unprompted. i'm just like this. can be read as an au of my earlier fjorestergast thing, I guess.
> 
> cw for minor voyeurism & misuse of magic. nothing all parties involved wouldn't be okay with if they knew about it, but not exactly ethical either.

Insomnia had plagued Caleb since childhood, and over the years he had learned to work around it.  His latest solution was to slip into his bunk, close his eyes, and then slip into Frumpkin’s skin.  There was something soothing about the fey creature’s mind; though undoubtedly intelligent, its emotions were flat and simple, and its explorations distracted Caleb from his own thoughts while not requiring him to focus.  Eventually he would fall asleep and break their connection. 

 

Sometimes, though, Frumpkin took Caleb to places where he probably shouldn’t be.  For instance, Fjord and Jester’s inn bedroom.

 

Surprising no one, Fjord and Jester had quickly become a couple after their rescue.  Nothing had much changed about them except that Jester’s flirting had become even more blatant, and the pit in Caleb’s stomach had grown every time he saw them together.

 

At first he thought he was jealous of Jester—as determined as Caleb had been to remain unattached to these people, there had been a few encounters with Fjord at the beginning of their travels that made Caleb _hope_ in a way he hadn’t in a long time.  It had been a particular kind of painful when Jester hugged Caleb in a moment of glee and he realized that what he felt for her wasn’t just jealousy, either.

 

A lot of things in Caleb’s life were painful.  So he had tried to ignore it.

 

That seemed almost impossible now, though.

 

When Caleb merged with Frumpkin, the cat was on top of a wardrobe, looking down at the room through curls of decorative woodwork.  And Fjord and Jester were on the bed.  He had just enough time to register that they were apparently clothed before he asserted his control over the cat and yanked Frumpkin’s gaze away.

 

Shit.  He heard what was unmistakably kissing beneath him, he should probably leave altogether—how had Frumpkin even gotten in there?

 

“He looked good today,” Jester murmured, so softly even Frumpkin’s cat senses barely picked it up.  “Don’t you think?”

 

Fjord chuckled; the sound went straight through Caleb.  Gods, he should not be listening to this, he should be leaving _right now._ “I noticed _you_ did.  Gonna give that boy a heart attack, Jes.”

 

He was reading too much into this, Caleb told himself sternly.  He was projecting.  That morning Jester had dramatically draped herself over him in the wagon, claiming she was tired and he made a great pillow, but that did not mean they were talking about him.

 

But it—couldn’t hurt to keep listening, right? 

 

Well, it could.  But Caleb already knew he was not a good man.

 

“Someone’s got to do _something,_ ” said Jester.  Someone squeaked; the bedclothes rustled. Caleb stared very resolutely at the top of the wardrobe.  He might be a voyeur but he refused to be a peeping tom.  A little breathlessly Jester continued, “Just because you won’t say anything doesn’t mean I can’t.  Not my fault you boys are stupid.”

 

“Not _stupid_ ,” Fjord protested.  “Boy’s jumpy, is all.  I don’t wanna scare him off.”

 

“See, you say that, but I’m pretty sure you are just scared too.”  There was a sharp _thunk._ In a much warmer tone Jester added, “Stay _down,_ Fjord, what did I say?  I want to try something.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

 

Caleb felt magic ripple out from the bed.  Fjord swore.

 

“What do you think?  Too weird?”

 

Fuck fuck fuck that was _not Jester’s voice._

 

Before he quite knew what he was doing, Caleb looked.  And saw his own body straddling Fjord, his own hands pinning Fjord’s wrists to the headboard.  But it was Jester, it had to be Jester, because he was pretty sure his face had never worn that seductive smile.

 

“No,” Fjord choked out, his eyes very wide.  “No, I think this is—just fine.”

 

“Good,” said Jester, and kissed him again.

 

Caleb wasn’t sure what sound he made in his own body.  In Frumpkin it came out as a strangled mew, which was probably not too far off.  Fjord and Jester both startled back and looked for the source of the noise.

 

Fjord saw him first.  “Frumpkin?” he asked, and then his eyes narrowed.  “ _Caleb_?”

 

Caleb broke the connection and went hurtling back to his own body, heart pounding and more than a little turned on.  “ _Scheisse,_ ” he said, covering his face with his hands. 

 

Thank _fuck_ he wasn’t rooming with Nott tonight, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments/kudos/feedback would be great, as this isn't something i've written for in a hot minute.


End file.
